Monday... But I know what the truth is.

It is so easy for us to know what the truth is and of course we need to share it. Oh, no, I'm not wrong, I know the truth.

Proverbs 18:2 (NIV) says, "Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions." The Message says, "Fools care nothing for thoughtful discourse; all they do is run off at the mouth."

Now there are many truths in life that are true but we have to believe them in faith. And no way would a smart person believe them.

Here is a story that is found in Matthew 1 that a smart person in no way would believe. They are too smart to believe it.

It starts in verse 18 (NLT). It says, "This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit."

Verse 19, "Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man" Did you know that even righteous people can jump to conclusions and share their opinions on the internet? "and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly." Now that shows that he was an honorable man and that he loved her. But he was confused. And he knew what his family and all other deeply righteous people would think. But he loved her and wanted to protect her even though it seemed that she had not been faithful. So many times when we believe we are right we can be so cruel. This is where truth and grace hit head on.

Verses 20-21, "As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. 'Joseph, son of David,' the angels said, ' do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.'"

A very interesting situation, isn't it? "Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions."

Psalm 138:6 says, "Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud."

Let's be careful in our opinions when we don't know the whole truth. Any time we point our finger at someone there are three fingers that are pointed back at us.

Now the NT in the Bible is so important but so is the OT. I have just spent some time in reading Isaiah where the prophet gave some clues as to what was going to happen. The first part of Matthew shows the link of the OT to the NT. We need to know the whole story. It is so easy for us to jump to our own conclusions without really knowing what is really happening.

There are going to be some opportunities for us during this season to share our opinions. Yes we do have truths that we live by but God also wants us to show our love for others who may not know what we know and who need our grace.

Listen, God knew what he was doing when he connected Joseph and Mary together. He really did. You see, Joseph was connect to David. That was prophesied. And he was a man who loved God and his future wife and he was opened to what was prophesied.

An angel in the night said to Joseph in verse 22-23, "All of this occured to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet: 'Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and the will call him Immanuel, (Isa. 7:14; 8:8, 10) which means, '"God with us"'"

Verse 24, "When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus."

Listen, we must live by truth but we also need to live with grace. We may not know the whole story. So let's be careful in sharing our opinions as the whole truth. Yes, Yes! #todaysbeginning

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together!

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together! They really do. And this is what caught my attention this morning as I was reading Proverbs 2. Verse 1 (NRSVUE) says, "My child, if you accept my words and treasure my commands within you." Verse 3 (NIV), "Indeed i f you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, Verse 4, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, Verse 5, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." And verses 9-11, " Then you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." There will always be some effort we must do, some ifs for the thens to be realized in our lives. So many of us want to understand without the ifs. But the thens are so worth, so very worth the effort. Verses 5-6 in the Ampli...

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless. It really can. I have found that unless I give the correct email of my wife then I can't get what I wanted. I put an extra i in her email and I have been working for 5 days to get it changed. Unless has been useless. The writer of Psalm 94 uses this word and shows how important it is. Verses 17-19 (NLT) says, "Unless the Lord had helped me, I would have soon settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, 'I'm slipping!' but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." "Unless the Lord had helped me." So many people go on and on and on striving to live their life on their own but they keep slipping and doubting and living without hope and cheer. Yes the Lord has such unfailing love for us, he really does but unless we have a relationship with him and we turn to him and ask him for help then the unless turns in to useless because h...

Todays Beginning

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